Swiss Re Estimates Europe’s July Floods to Cost Insurers $12 Billion

Swiss Re estimated total insured market losses of the insurance industry due to the July floods in Europe at approximately US$12 billion.

The insurer also updated its own loss estimate for the July floods at approximately US$520 million.

Mid-July’s intense rainfalls and storms over Western and Central Europe caused widespread and record-breaking flooding. Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, and Austria were affected.

In August, catastrophe modeler RMS estimated that insured losses from the flooding would likely range between €5 billion and €6.5 billion (US$6 billion and US$7.7 billion).

Also, on an industry level, Swiss Re estimated total insured market losses from Hurricane Ida in the U.S. in late August to be in the range of US$28–30 billion, not including government flood insurance losses. Swiss Re estimated its own preliminary claims burden from Hurricane Ida at approximately US$750 million.

Photograph: A woman looks at cars and houses damaged after flooding in Liege, Belgium, on Monday, July 19, 2021. Photo credit: AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi.

Topics Carriers Flood Europe